


A Clan of Their Own

by The_Lupine_Sojourner



Category: The Mandalorian (TV)
Genre: Din Djain has a sister, I kinda ship Cara and Din but we'll see in the show I guess, My OC is Din's younger twin sister, There likely won't be a romance for her though, There were too many characters to name individually lol
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-30
Updated: 2021-02-09
Packaged: 2021-03-09 18:53:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 14,833
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27791071
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Lupine_Sojourner/pseuds/The_Lupine_Sojourner
Summary: Din and Rin Djarin had always done things together. From surviving an attack on their village to establishing themselves as the best bounty hunters in their parsec, Rin and Din were always together. When they accept a job from a mysterious Imperial client, they find themselves caught up in something far bigger than they thought, bringing old tales to life as they travel the galaxy. The Djarins will need to watch each other's back if they're gonna survive this... [Possible Din/Cara] [Each chapter should be one episode, but we'll see]
Relationships: Din Djarin & OC, Din Djarin & Sister!OC, Din Djarin/Cara Dune
Comments: 2
Kudos: 9





	1. Intro

**With the arrival of the _amazing_ season 2 of _the Mandalorian_ , I was inspired to make this. **

**I know I know. Yet another story. But I couldn't help it!**

**I hope you guys like it! Let me know what you think and if I make mistakes gently point them out and I'll fix them asap. :)**

**God Bless and Good Day!**

**~The Lupine Sojourner**

There was no warning. 

All of a sudden, blasts were fired, people were falling everywhere, and droids marched in groups down the streets. 

“Mama!” I scream, running to her. Papa already has Din in his arms and we start running. Mama holds my hand and we keep moving. 

“It’ll be ok, Rin. Just trust us.” Mama says, but she looks really scared. 

We get to a cellar, and Mama and Papa open the doors. 

“C’mon, Mama! We gotta hurry” I beg, but they don’t move to get in.

“Din, look after your sister, alright?” Papa says, kissing the top of Din and I’s head. “Promise?” 

“Promise.” Din says. 

Papa looks at me. “Rin, your brother will protect you, so stay with him always. Promise?” My eyes sting with tears, but I nod. 

Mama and Papa then lower Din and I into the cellar and leave, with one final ‘I love you’ before they closed the doors. 

The ground shakes and I hug Din, trying not to scream as the sounds of the droids firing and people running fills our ears. Tears roll down my cheeks. I think I heard Mama and Papa scream...

Then, the doors open and there’s a droid right there! I can’t help a scream, trembling as I buried my face in Din’s chest. 

Suddenly, there’s a blaster shot, and then there’s a hole in the droid’s chest. It falls, then we see who had shot the droid, and our hearts leapt with relief. 

It was a Mandalorian warrior! He (at least I think it’s a he) reaches down and helps us out, and I can’t help hugging his leg, sobbing now the danger was past. It was so scary!

The man picks me up, motioning with an arm for another warrior to come grab Din. The pair of warriors nod to each other and we are suddenly flying! 

I look as we fly away and realize the Mandalorians were winning! They were destroying droids left and right!

I decided I kinda like these Mandalorians.

If Din and I were going to be raised together by these Mandalorians, I could keep my promise to Mama and Papa and never leave Din’s side.

=#=#=#=#=

“Again.” 

I groan under my breath and force myself to stand once again. Din and I had been practicing a shoulder throw for what felt like hours. 

“C’mon, Rin.” Din says, looking about as tired as I felt. 

I pull up some inner strength and manage another decent charge. Din grabs my arm, twists the vibroblade from it, and tosses me over his shoulder. 

I groan loudly as my back crunches into the mat again. This training would definitely leave a bruise...and possibly minor internal damage. 

“Reverse the roles.” Our instructor calls and reluctantly we do. 

I gulp. I was decidedly nervous. I wasn’t as strong as Din. I don’t think I can throw him. 

But I had to try. Din charged at me, and I managed to grab his wrist, twist the vibroblade, and try to throw him over my shoulder.

Unfortunately, I was right; I wasn’t quite strong enough to throw him over my shoulder, so Din was able to regain his feet, twist my arm around and pin it painfully behind my back. 

Almost without thinking, I slam my head back into Din’s, who grunts and loosens his hold just enough to get out of his grip. I then grab my vibroblade and prepare to keep fighting when the instructor calls out a crisp ‘hold!’ and instantly Din and I freeze. 

“You both share quick thinking and a natural instinct for combat.” Is our praise. “But you lack fundamental strategic knowledge. Din should have attempted to intercept Rin before she retrieved her vibroblade. Alternatively, Rin should have, upon realizing she was not strong enough to throw Din over her shoulder, simply put him on the ground and pinned him beneath her knees.” 

I nod sheepishly. “Yes ma’am.” 

“Do not be discouraged, Rin. Simply learn and progress.” 

I nod, gripping my vibroblade in determination. “Yes ma’am.” 

“You alright to try again?” Din asks. 

I nod. “You bet.”

=#=#=#=#=

“Are you nervous?” Din asks as we polish our helmets for the ceremony tomorrow. 

We will be of age tomorrow. We’ll be sworn to the Creed and we’ll never be able to take our helmets off around another living thing...except each other. 

That was one of two exceptions granted us by right of us being born on the same day. 

The other was that we could both leave the Covert on bounty hunting assignments together, which normally would be against the rules. 

“No, I’m not nervous.” I grumble, but I was in a way. 

I didn’t feel ready to put the helmet on and almost never be able to take it off. 

Not that I didn’t like the helmet or that I didn’t want to swear the Creed, it’s just...it seems like a lonely existence, never showing your face. 

“Rin, tomorrow is an important day. We’ll remember tomorrow for the rest of our lives.”

“I just hope they’re happy memories.” I reply softly, wiping over my paint job and being careful not to ruin my hard work. 

I was allowed (since I asked pardon, not permission) to paint my helmet and make it distinct from Din’s. I felt like that was smart, so we weren’t grabbing each other’s helmets all the time. 

Din’s hand on mine stalls my polishing and I realize I have tears in my eyes. 

What the hell? Why am I crying? Mandalorians don’t cry! 

“Rin, c’mere.” Din murmurs, drawing me into his lap for a hug. I accept, suddenly not willing to fight off my emotions any longer. “What’s wrong, huh? Do I need to beat someone up?” 

“N-no, Din. It’s just...I don’t think I’m ready to swear the Creed and never look at another living thing except you without my helmet. I don’t want to hide!” 

“We’re not hiding.” Dinassures my, smoothing down my wild hair as he rubs my back. “We’re joining the ranks of our brothers and sisters of the Creed. It’s a high honor.”

“I know that, Din, believe me.” I assure him. 

And I  _ did _ know that. But at the same time...I didn’t want to be so restricted on who I could show my face to and the kinda extreme measures we of the Tribe take to stay hidden and safe. 

I wanted to be able to make that choice for myself, but it seems I wouldn’t be given that option. 

I didn’t have a choice if I wanted to stay with Din...and I had promised our parents I’d stay by Din’s side.

So I’d swear the Creed and I’d live by it, if only in thanks for these Mandalorians taking us in and raising us.

“Then what’s making you cry?”

I sigh. “I guess...I’m just not used to the idea of having to wear a helmet all the time.” 

“You’re going to have to get used to it, Rin.” Din replies and I sigh heavily, leaning my head against his chest for just a little while longer. 

“I know.”

=#=#=#=#=

“You two have earned this honor.” The Armorer congratulates as Din and I put our helmets on, reciting the final lines of the Creed as we did. 

“Thank you.” Din murmurs, his voice slightly distorted through the helmet. 

“We will honor the Creed.” I add, my heart breaking just a little at what adhering to the Creed means.

A life of never showing my face to anyone but Din sounded incredibly lonely. No I wasn’t forbidden to talk to people, but constantly wearing my helmet, never showing my face, showing who I really was, is not the way I want to live my life. 

But I have to live this way because Din is living this way and I promised our parents I’d stay with him. 

In the background, among the happy Mandalorians, was Paz Vizla. 

Paz was rather single-minded when it came to matters of honor. He had his opinion on what honor meant and if anyone didn’t live up to that standard, they were labeled a coward in his mind and he would choose to be aggressive toward those individuals in order to make them prove themselves. 

Din had told the Armorer of our plans to be bounty hunters and for some reason, that pissed Paz off. Ever since, Din was labelled a coward but Paz would refuse to elaborate on why he didn’t like us, labelling us cowards. 

He had labelled me a coward as well when I argued in my brother’s defense. 

The Armorer was never able to straighten out Paz’s ire, and so the cycle continues. 

He stomps over. “I see you were inducted.” He grumbles, arms loose at his sides. 

“You just saw us swear the Creed.” I retort before I can stop myself. 

“I thought only brave Mandalorians were inducted into the Creed.” 

I roll my eyes, despite knowing Paz couldn’t see. “Brave Mandalorians are sworn to the Creed. Also dumb ones.” Again, I spoke without thinking.

Paz instantly draws his vibroblade, prompting Din and I to do the same.

Luckily, the Armorer intervenes. “We will not pick fights among ourselves on the night we gain two full members of our Covert.” She admonishes. Din, Paz, and I stand down. “Go, find another use for yourselves.” 

Din grabs my arm. “We should go get food.” He says. I nod and follow him. 

We find our food and go to our quarters. I take off my helmet and sigh. “Not even an hour after we swear the Creed, and Paz is already pissed.” I muse, chuckling. 

“He won’t stop.” Din replies with another sigh. 

“No, he won’t.” I begin eating. “I don’t know why he particularly doesn’t like you, Din, but he seems to have it out for you.” 

“He’s likely mad we swore the Creed younger than him.” Din replies with another sigh as he also slips off his helmet and eats. “So...it’s not so bad, right? Being sworn to the Creed?” 

I roll my eyes. “Din, we haven’t been sworn in more than thirty minutes. I’ll need time before I can answer that.” 

“I know. I just still don’t quite understand your hesitance. These people raised us, took us in after- -”

“I know, Din.” I interject, wincing. “I know. I just...I don’t like the idea of constantly wearing a helmet, constantly hiding my face.” I hold up a hand when Din leans forward, about to speak. “I know it’s not actually hiding, Din.”  _ Or, at least, I could pretend I know that _ , “I can’t help how I feel, though.” 

“I know. You’ll get used to it. Just like I will.” 

Maybe he was right. Maybe I will get used to it. 

=#=#=#=#=

“Welcome back, Mandos!” Ran cheers as we walk down the ship we’d used, Razor Crest’s landing ramp. 

I grit my teeth. I hated working with this cutthroat, immoral, honorless creep, but Din seems to think it’s a good idea, so...here we are. 

Not to mention the Twi’lek siblings, Xi’an and Qin…

I do not like those two at all. They’re as vicious as Ran, but even more bloodthirsty. Those two seriously gave me the creeps. 

And Din seemed oblivious to my concerns and discomfort, which was unlike him. Xi’an has been keeping him distracted, I guess. 

“Good to be back.” Din replies, bringing reality crashing back around me. I subtly shake myself. 

“I see the Crest needs a bit of work.” Ran grumbles good-naturedly. 

“When doesn’t it?” Din replies, equally as good-naturedly...at least, for Din. 

Ran laughs and throws his arm around Din’s shoulder. The pair walk off and suddenly, Xi’an is standing next to me, making my skin crawl. 

“Someday, he’ll be mine.” She purrs, playing idly with her knives. 

I turn to her. “What do you mean?” I ask sharply. 

“We will be together forever…” She is still purring and it drives me insane. “Someday.” 

“We’ll see.” I grumble softly. I don’t see Din ever settling down with anyone, much less a psycho like Xi’an. 

Xi’an just laughs that freaky laugh of hers, licking her lips and walking away. 

I walk after her, moving ahead of her to get to my brother before Xi’an gets her hands on him. I didn’t trust her or like her at all. In fact, I can say my dislike bordered on hatred. 

My only saving grace is that Qin isn’t stalking me and trying to pursue a relationship with me, though I doubt that will last long. 

I shudder just thinking about it. 

=#=#=#=#=

“Why are you always so tense these days?” Din asks as we eat in the Razor Crest later that night, the doors locked and our helmets off. 

“I hate this.” I growl. Normally, I made some excuse that Din seemed to accept, but this time I decided to voice my true thoughts and hopefully convince Din to leave. “These people, Din...they’re immoral. They don’t have any honor, and one day they’ll slit our throats, just you watch.” 

“...” Din was silent for a long time. “I want to continue working for Ran to earn the Razor Crest. According to Ran, we’re almost squared up. As soon as we own the Crest, we’ll be in the wind. We’ll handle one last job, then we’ll leave and never come back.” He promises, hand on my shoulder.

“Really?” I ask. 

“Yes. I promise.” 

I bite my lip. There was something else I wanted to talk to Din about...something I’d started noticing between him and Xi’an…

“Din...are you and Xi’an...are you two dating?” I decide to just ask him point blank. 

“What gives you that assumption?” Din asks. 

“The way she acts around you, the way she is constantly around you when she can be, and you don’t refuse her advances...there’s a lot I’ve noticed.” 

“...” Din sighs and hangs his head. I groan. 

“Seriously?” I ask before I can stop myself. “ _ Xi’an _ ?” 

“She’s persistent." Din replies tersely.

"Do you actually like her?"

"No, but--" 

"Than _why_?" 

Din sighs, sinking into the pilot's chair.  "I need to give the illusion that I’ll be staying here longer than I am. That way, they’ll likely not follow us when we leave.” 

“Won’t it make them angrier and  _ more _ likely to follow us?” I point out.

“We’ll see, I suppose.” I sigh and gulp the rest of my soup. 

“I suppose so. Just...don’t let her make you do anything you’ll regret.” I put my hand on his shoulder and then walk to the bed after slipping out of my boots.

"I haven't taken my helmet off for her." Din calls after me. "If that's what you're worried about." 

I stop short. Should have known Din would read me like a damn book. "I know. She's really not your type." I shudder. 

"This will be over soon, Rin. I promise." I walk back over and give my brother a hug. 

"I know. I can wait just a little longer."

“Goodnight, Rin.” Din calls, finishing his soup and coming over as well. 

The Crest has two sleeping shelves fashioned one on top of the other, so if I had to, I could look down to see what was happening in Din’s sleep area and even squeeze into it without leaving the area. It was a little cramped but we made it work. 

We’d agreed it’d be a bad idea to sleep in the quarters in the Roost.

“Goodnight, Din-Din.” I murmur back, yawning. Din-Din was a nickname I’d used for my brother since before we’d been taken in by the Fighting Corp. I hardly used it nowadays unless we were alone. He wasn’t the biggest fan of the nickname, but it made me feel less isolated to give him a nickname, something personal to connect us even though he never called me a nickname in return.

=#=#=#=#=

“Mando! Both of you! Get back here! Help us!” 

“Mando, you asshole, come back!”

It felt better than it should for me to walk away and ignore their pleas.

“Nothing personal, guys!” I call back, not turning around. “It’s just the way things turned out.” 

“C’mon, Rin. We’ll have to be quick if we want to avoid the New Republic.” Din calls, scanning around the corners. I nod, jogging to catch up. 

Much as I hated the Imperials, who’d been defeated a few years ago by the Rebellion (that had since begun to establish itself as the ‘New Republic’, which was honestly kind of a joke), the New Republic was too stuffy and thought too highly of themselves for my tastes. Din and I preferred to avoid either party, if possible.

We just wanted to make a living out in the galaxy. We didn’t want to get involved in any wars or their aftermaths.

We walk into the Crest, close the ramp, and head up to the cockpit. “That felt kinda good.” I grin. “Is that bad?” 

“I don’t think so. They were without honor, so we’ll leave them to whatever fate awaits them.” Din replies, sounding as happy to leave as I was. 

“Din...I’m sorry for thinking you actually liked it there. I’m sorry I doubted you.” 

“I would have done the same in your shoes, Rin. I knew I had to be convincing or it wouldn’t work.” 

I sigh, leaning back in the co-pilot seat. “So...what now?” 

“I heard of a Bounty Hunters Guild on Nevarro.” Din replies, putting the coordinates into the navigation system. 

I frown. “Isn’t that where the Tribe is moving?” I ask. The Armorer that had been training Din and I had been talking about breaking away from the larger Covert we currently lived in.

Din nods. “Yes, so it’s perfect for us. The timing couldn’t be better.” 

I chuckle. “Don’t bullshit me. You somehow planned this, didn’t you?” 

“...Maybe I did, maybe I didn’t.” He reaches over and turns off the communications array, which was starting to pick up transmissions from the group we’d left behind. 

We weren’t about to go back to working with those scumbags, so we don’t look back.

=#=#=#=#=

“Why would two Mandalorians want to join the Guild?” The head of the Guild, a man named Greef Karga, asks. 

I tilt my head. “...Are you serious? We’re  _ Mandalorians _ . We have a history of being mercenaries and bounty hunters. Damn good ones, too.” 

“We’ll see.” Karga scoffs, leans forward, puts a bounty puck down. It illuminates and displays an ugly alien snarling at us, apparently wanted for murder and arson, among other heinous charges. 

He is considered ‘highly dangerous’ and seems to be just the challenge we need to establish ourselves in the Guild and make sure we have a steady flow of credits. 

“We’ll take it.” Din says, grabbing the puck. 

“Can we get two trackers, just in case?” I ask. “Sometimes we have to split up, and it would make it easier- -”

“I only have one tracker set for this quarry, I’m afraid. You want to bring him in and get into this Guild? You gotta make it work.” 

I scowl at him behind my helmet, but Din just nods. 

“Alright then.” He stands as Karga hands him the tracker. 

“Signal’s already set in, no need for chain codes or anything else. Best I can do, now off you go.” 

Din walks off as I catch up. 

“What was that?” He asks softly as we walk. “We don’t need two trackers.” 

“We might. You never know.” I reply, shrugging.

“Made us look weak.” Din growls. 

I roll my eyes. “Alright, I won’t do it again, ok?” 

Din sighs. “I know you were trying to help, Rin, but it wasn’t a great first impression.” 

I sigh. “Sorry.” 

“We’ll work on it.” He says and, coming from him, that was about as good as I was gonna get. 

“Alright.”

=#=#=#=#=

“Three pucks, all at once?” Karga asks. 

“Yes. We can handle it.” Din says. Typically, he did the talking when we were with Karga. It seemed to work better, so that’s what we stuck with. 

“...I can give you two. I can’t have you two hogging all the pucks. There are other hunters I have to give work to.” 

I roll my eyes.  _ They’re not as good as us, and you know it _ , I grumble inwardly, but know better than to verbalize it as Din sighs and grabs the two pucks Karga slides toward us. 

We head toward the ship and look at the coordinates. The ramp comes up behind us and we climb into the cockpit

“What do you think we’ll earn with these pucks?” I ask, smiling as we begin the takeoff sequence.

“They’re low-level criminals, bail-jumpers. We’re just gonna get munitions for the weapons we already have.” 

I chuckle. “Yeah. The Armorer can be strict about that kind of thing.” 

“Hopefully it won’t take long to earn our signet and a cuirass.” With that, Din activates the hyperdrive and we’re on our way to our next adventure.

=#=#=#=#=

True to Din’s word (not that I doubted him) the bounties we were after were low level thugs at worse and idiot bail-jumpers at best.

Easy prey. We got the two pucks we were given within five days, packed in carbonite and ready to be delivered to Karga when we got back. 

Speaking of Karga, he was hailing us. Din is calculating our route back to Nevarro since our navigation is flaky today, so I take the call. 

“Ah, Mando.” He referred to both of us as ‘Mando’, which suited us fine. Karga usually indicated who he meant or clarified after an awkward pause. “I have good news; a rookie failed to retrieve the bounty I gave them, so he’s out of a job and you have another puck to pick up if you- -”

“Where?” Din asks, appearing behind me. It didn’t startle me any more, but Karga reels back a step. He then leans forward and instead of Karga, we see pictures of a Rhodian, wanted for conspiracy to terrorism and possession of illegal weapons. She is ranked somewhat high on the danger scale so I get why the rookie had trouble. 

“Won’t be a problem.” I say. “Thank you.” 

“Thank  _ you _ . Oh, and I have one other bounty. This one comes from me personally. I’ll send all the files, don’t worry.” 

“Good. We’ll return to Nevarro as soon as possible.” Din says, and ends the link. 

“Seems we got three pucks after all.” I chuckle, and Din nods, going back to the pilot’s seat to activate the hyperdrive. “Well, technically two.” This would only add about two days to our trip, maximum.

Great.

=#=#=#=#=

The Rhodian tried to ambush us, but he didn’t know there was two of us, so it was an easy bounty to take care of. The tricky part was when we had to shove him into the carbonite chamber. He tried to leave, so we had to shove him back in without getting our fingers or hands frozen. 

Now for the personal bounty from Karga…

“It’s weird that Karga sent us a ‘personal bounty’.” I muse, taking a turn at the navigation computer. “Also, says here the bounty’s a Mythrol.” I then see the coordinates. “Why would a Mythrol hide on an ice planet like Maldo Kreis?”

“Who knows?” Din says, settling into the pilot seat. “Ready?” I press the final buttons. 

“Locked and loaded.” I grin as we enter hyperspace. “This’ll be a piece of cake.” 

“We’ll see.” 


	2. The Mandalorian, Part 1

**Ok first let me say I am really sorry for accidentally leaving you guys for a little bit. Got sucked away by Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure. HMU if you like Jojo’s too, but anyway…**

**One thing I wanted to mention before we get to the story is...these chapters are gonna be** **_huge_ ** **if I put each episode as one chapter. Is that ok with you guys or should I split them up about halfway through? Lemme know!**

**I’ve split up the episode this time, but if y’all want to read the episode insertions as their own chapters, let me know and I’ll give y’all the full insertions instead.**

**God Bless and Good Day!**

**~The Lupine Sojourner**

I change into my thicker flightsuit when we get close to Mando Kreis and grab my cold weather gloves. 

“You wanna run point?” I ask, as always. If the mission was a stealthier endeavor, I usually ran point, since I was lighter and quieter than Din. 

But usually Din ran point since he was ‘in charge’ and always wanted to protect me.

Din predictably shakes his head. “I’m on point. Should be quick and easy. In fact, you stay by the door in case this hotshot gets desperate and tries to run.” 

I sigh. This is how it went with us. He always phrased it as a good thing, as something helpful or whatever, but he really just wants me out of danger. 

Which is ridiculous. We’re Mandalorian bounty hunters. We face danger every single day and emerge fairly unscathed every time. 

I wasn’t a child he needed to overprotect.

But I knew from when we were just starting out in the galaxy and I'd talked to Din about it that it would hurt him to continue bringing it up, so I keep it bottled up. 

We touch down and there’s a few rickety landspeeders there to take us into the town our quarry was in. 

So we hop on and don’t talk to the pilot. He doesn’t seem to want to talk to us so it works out fine. 

We pay him a few credits for his time and walk into town, the beeping of the tracker guiding us. 

“Of course he’s in a bar.” I grumble, rolling my eyes when we arrive at the building our bounty was in. 

“This’ll be easier than I thought.” Din replies, and opens the door. 

Instantly, quiet falls inside the small, seedy bar. 

To our right, we see our quarry being menaced by what look like trawlers. 

Thugs, easily dealt with. Even though there were four or five trawlers that were more than likely to fight, Din would probably still want me by the door, so I stay there as he approaches the bar, not wanting to give away why we’re here just yet. 

One of the trawlers growls at us in Huttese, but I don’t care enough to mentally translate it. 

“Hey, Mando!” He then growls, and I start listening, hand hovering on my pistol. Din’s hand subtly makes a ‘stay’ gesture so I make myself appear to relax, though I was ready if these guys try anything. “I said you spilled my drink!” So that’s what he said earlier. 

“He says you spilled his drink.” The barkeep translates in Basic when Din refuses to say anything. 

The apparent leader of the trawlers nods to his cronies and they come over, leaving our Mythrol alone at the table.

“It’s fine.” The barkeep offers placatingly. “It’s on me.” He grabs a new drink of whatever the leader had been drinking. 

“Is that real Beskar Steel?” I grip my pistol stock, ready to draw it as the thugs menace my brother, one shoulder checking him and the other scratching a knife off Din’s durasteel chestplate. 

I have to seriously restrain myself from attacking. Din hated it when I involved myself prematurely on his behalf. He said he was protecting me, not the other way around. 

“Here.” The barkeep calls, and slides the drink toward the leader, but Din chooses to catch it, using it as a kind of blunt weapon, smashing the canister into the leader’s face. Din then uses his arms to shove the others away and it’s all downhill from there. Din twists the leader’s arm all the way back and drives the knife the man holds into the leader’s back, letting him fall as a Mon Calamari trawler tries to run. 

I casually trip him with my fibrocord launcher, yanking him back toward me, which is not as easy as it sounds. 

The Calamari makes the desperate and fatal mistake of shooting my pauldron, which withstands the shot easily. Din shoots the door's controls and the door shuts...with the Calamari halfway through it. 

“You always make a mess.” I tease as I walk over with Din toward our quarry. 

“He shot you.” Is Din’s short retort. I smirk, then turn to the Mythrol. 

He seems to think we’re here to rescue him, laughing and resuming his seat. “Thank you.” he says, smiling. “Thank you very much!” He gathers some credits I assume were his, still smiling in relief. “You have my heartfelt gratitude.” Din says nothing and the Mythrol starts to look nervous. “You know what?” He slides the credits toward us. Hardly enough for much of anything. “You take my credits, buy yourselves drinks.” I roll my eyes. 

Just what game did he think we were playing here? 

I tilt my head. “I wouldn’t celebrate if I were you.” I muse wryly as Din brings out the puck we’d added his picture to from the files Karga sent. 

“...Oh. Is that a bounty puck?” the Mythrol asks nervously.

“Mm-hmm.” I reply, unable to help it. 

“Is that me?”

“What do you think?” I snap. 

“Enough.” Din interjects. 

“Look, uh...there must be some mistake.” The Mythrol tries desperately. “I can get you more credits.” 

I snort, but leave it to Din after I’d said my piece. 

Din’s hand hovers over his pistol. “I can bring you in warm...or I can bring you in cold.”

I grab a pair of cuffs off my belt and toss them onto the table. “Be smart for once. Cuff yourself and come with us.” 

“...” The Myhtrol, shockingly, takes a moment to look between Din and I before slumping in defeat as Din grabs the puck. “Yeah alright.” 

“Smart Mythrol.” I snark, shoving him forward as Din leads the way. 

That was another thing Din always did; when we’d gotten the target and were heading back for the Crest, Din  _ always  _ led the way, no matter what.

We made our way in silence to the dock where the landspeeders would pick us up. 

The ferryman is a Kubazian, and he stands as we arrive. I think he asks ‘how can I help you?’, but my Kubazian is...very bad.

“We need passage to the yards.” Din explains. Maybe I was right…

The ferryman plays a carrying note on a weird flute thing and a clean, decent-looking speeder rolls up.

Only problem is…it’s piloted by a droid. I’ve come to accept that, unless they’re Imperial droids or Bounty Hunter droids, they weren’t too bad. 

Din however hates all droids and turns to the ferryman. “No droids.” He growls. 

“I assure you, this speeder is brand new. It’s the latest model.” The ferryman says, but Din isn’t listening, tossing a few credits to the ferryman and the ferryman pockets it. “At your pleasure.”

...How did I just translate all of that? Guess I pick up a few things, traveling the galaxy. Still, I surprised myself. 

The next speeder is a really rickety one with a human pilot. It nearly breaks down as it comes to a stop in front of us. 

I grimace, knowing it was hidden behind my helmet. 

“Where to?” 

“The yards.” Din replies. 

Reluctantly, we climb inside. The speeder takes off and I get the feeling we might not make to the shipyard.

But we do. I just hope we make it to the Crest in one piece. 

I notice the pilot is scanning the yards with binoculars, probably for the Ravinaks this planet is famous for. Ice worm-type creatures that prey on those foolish enough to wander over their territory. 

They’re the main reason there aren’t a lot of visitors to Mando Kreis. Well...that, and it's  _ kriffing _ cold here! 

“You know what he’s searching for, right?” The Mythrol asks, then leans toward the pilot. “You’re looking for Ravinaks, right?” 

“Do you think we’re all idiots?” I growl, shoving him back into his seat. “We’re on the ice of Mando Kreis. Of  _ course _ he’s looking for Ravinaks!” 

“It’s clear right now.” The pilot calls back over the wind. “But be careful near the port. Everyone dumps their Grey Holds out. They think the whole entire planet is their own personal stink pit.” 

We pull up to the Razor Crest and it’s clear the Mythrol is not at all impressed. 

“Here you are.” The pilot says as we come to a stop. 

“C’mon.” I growl, hopping out and trying not to land too loudly on the ice. 

“You’re kidding me, right?” 

“Don’t insult the ship, just get out!” I yank the Mythrol up and he reluctantly steps toward the Crest. 

“I’ll hire us a livery cruiser. No big deal. Won’t come out of your end. I’ll pay for it.” The Mythrol continues as Din and I march him toward the ship. 

“Would you just shut up?” I had had enough of this guy’s constant chatter. 

“Just trying to make it pleasant.” He retorts. 

“It’d be more pleasant if you kept your mouth shut.” I snarl, shoving the Myhtrol to the Crest as Din and the pilot settled up. 

“I’d stay off the ice if I were you.” Is the pilot’s final words to us as he pulls away. 

“You think there’s really something to worry about?” The Mythrol asks worriedly. 

“Not if you board the damn ship.” I give him another shove and he finally walks toward the boarding ramp. 

That is, until we see a Ravinak break the ice and eat the pilot and speeder that had taken us here. “Dank ferrick!” I curse, grabbing my taserstaff off my right shoulder. “Din, fire up the ship! We got incoming!” 

“You fire it up! I’ll handle the- -” Din’s cut off as the thing manages to catch us off guard, appearing very close now. So close, in fact, the thing bites onto one of the landing gear legs as we scramble aboard. 

“This thing ain’t eating our ship!” I growl, preparing to taze it when Din cuts me off. 

“I told you to fire up the ship! Plus you need to keep an eye on the Mythrol.” I toss him my staff, as there was no point arguing, and head up the ramp, gritting my teeth. I could help if he wasn’t so overprotective!

I yank the Mythrol over to the ladder to the cockpit and he hurriedly but awkwardly climbs up. I scurry after him and shove our bounty into a seat, flipping switches with the other hand. 

"Dank ferrick, that was close!" He squeaks. I don't reply, continuing to power up the ship. "'Stay off the ice'." He grumbles with a scoff. "Understatement of the millennium!" The ship finally starts whirring to life. "It's gonna take us under!" He squeaks when flying is hindered and Din doesn't reappear. "What's he doing down there?" 

"Probably not asking stupid questions. Now shut up or I'll find something to gag you with." I snap back, finishing the power up sequence and we slowly rise a little bit. 

The Mythrol, I now notice, is at the window looking down, but I don't have a free hand to yank him back into the seat as I hear the Ravinak roaring and suddenly flying's a lot easier. 

Seconds later, Din is entering the cockpit, and I move to let him sit in the pilot seat. 

No one says anything for a few seconds as we fly out of Mando Kreis’ atmosphere. 

"I like your ship. She's a classic." Of course he broke the silence.

I grit my teeth in a vain attempt to rein my frustration in. "No you don't. You wanted to hire a livery cruiser just because you didn't like our ship." I retort and he shuts his mouth. 

For only a few precious seconds. "Razor Crest, am I right? Pre-Empire?"

I let out a long groan. “Look, this trip will be far less painful for everyone if you just  _ zip it _ .” I grumble. 

That buys me about ten seconds of silence. “...How much are they paying you?” He asks. 

“None of your concern.” I growl. 

“Is it true you guys never take off your helmets?” 

“If you don’t stop asking stupid questions, I am going to lock you in the sanitation closet.” I threaten. 

“Stop talking to him.” Din suggests, and I sigh. 

“Yeah I know.” 

About a minute goes by and I think we’ve finally shut this guy up.

Then…

“I think I have to use the vac-tube.” 

“Damnit.” I hiss under my breath, but I refuse to engage in his pointless conversations any longer, so I merely cross my arms and try to imagine what kind of reward we’ll get from the Armorer, if we get anything at all. We’ve not been bringing a lot of Beskar into the Tribe lately, so I doubt we’ll- -

“I mean, I could do it here, but if you’ve never seen a Fledgling Mythrol evacuate his thorax...you’re lucky Mandos, believe me.” 

“Mandalorians.” I correct. 

“What?” 

“Mandalorians. It’s not that hard to say.” I growl, then shut up again. 

“C-can I go use the vac-tube?” He presses. “I mean, clearly there’s nowhere for me to go, so uh...I’m gonna look for that vac-tube if it’s all the same to you two?” I settle down in my seat like I was going to take a nap, but don’t reply. 

Din focuses on piloting. 

The Mythrol takes that as dismissal and leaves the cockpit. 

“Dank ferrick he’s annoying.” I grumble. 

“We’ll deliver him to Moff Gideon soon.” He says. 

“Are you gonna jump to lightspeed?” I ask as the Mythrol calls up that he found the vac-tube and starts blabbing about something, but I don’t care enough to pay attention. 

“This Crest’s nava-computer is on the fritz again. It’s going to take a minute or two to make the calculations. Just hang on.” I nod. 

“Well, since there’s nothing else to do, I’m gonna go freeze that idiot before he does something stupid.” 

Even before I hop down into the main area, I can hear him rummaging around, followed by him typing on the keypad for various cabinets and closets in the Crest. He opens the weapons closet, sees the multitude of weapons inside, and closes it, I see as I peek down. I like to make them think I was still in the cockpit before I jump em. 

“Oh, this feels  _ so _ much better.” I hear him call, still wandering around the main area. “I haven’t evacuated since the solstice.” I drop down silently when he moves away from the ladder, creeping toward him. “I was hoping to be free for, uh, Life Day.” He continues, as if Din couldn’t hear his voice moving around down below and know what he’s up to. I could see him wandering over to the carbonite slabs of our other bounties. Predictably, he’s shocked. “Maybe even get home...to see the...family.” He breaths, trying to continue his charade of ‘clearing his thorax’. “But I guess that’s not gonna happen this year.” 

“This would’ve been so much easier if you’d just shut up and stayed in the cockpit.” I growl, grabbing his shirt and hauling him over to the carbonite chamber. “Now I gotta freeze you just to shut you up.” He screams as his body freezes, but he’s finally silent. 

=#=#=#=#=

We land in our usual spot and walk through the town, ignoring everyone as we make our way to the bounty hunter cantina to collect our reward. 

As usual, as soon as we enter, the mood shifts into a darker, more suspicious atmosphere. That’s the price of being the best; everyone hates you and wants to kill you to take your spot.

“Ah, that was fast.” Greef Karga greets. “Did you catch them all?” Din doesn’t verbally reply, simply putting the trackers on the table. Karga takes only a moment to double check them then he nods. “Good. I’ll begin the off-load.” He calls a few hunters in Huttese to get our slabs off our ship, and they go. 

I let out a soft sigh as we sit down, my taserstaff in my hands and Din’s pulse rifle beside him. 

The taserstaff was about as long as Din’s pulse rifle, with the same pronged attachment to the end. It delivers the same nasty shock Din’s taser attachment does. 

Moments like these, with Din talking to Karga, weren’t bad. I could doze for a minute while Din and Karga haggle over the reward. 

This time, apparently, Karga wants to pay us in Imperial Credits. 

He should know by now we don’t accept them. Never did, even before the Empire fell. 

Karga tried to argue that ‘they still spend’, but Din was adamant. 

When Din threatens to take back the trackers and go haggle with someone else, Karga gives us half the totaled reward, in Calamari Flan no less. Ugh. 

It was better than Imperial Credits, but not by much. 

Now came the part where I gotta pay a bit more attention; Karga takes out his current active pucks. 

“Hmm...a bail jumper, a bail jumper, another bail jumper, and a wanted smuggler.” Sounds far too easy for us, but we need the money for us and the Tribe.

“We’ll take them all.” Din says, reaching for the pucks, but Karga refuses to give them all. 

“No. Hold on.” He says. “There are other members of the Guild, and this is all I have.” 

“If they can’t cut it, they shouldn’t be in the Guild.” I grumble softly, crossing my arms. Din makes a ‘calm down’ gesture with his hand and turns to Karga. 

“Why so slow?” He asks. 

“Not slow at all, actually. Very busy. They just don’t want to pay Guild rates. They don’t mind if things get sloppy.” 

Typical. 

“What’s your highest bounty?” Din asks. 

Karga sighs. “Not much. 5000.” 

“That won’t cover fuel these days.” Din complains. 

“Got anything else?” I ask, unable to help it.

Karga thinks for a long moment, then finally clicks his tongue. “There is...one job.” At this, a few nearby hunters start paying close attention to our table. Must be something good. 

“Let’s see the puck.” Din says, but Karga shakes his head. 

“No puck.” He explains and despite knowing he can’t see it, I tilt my head and raise a brow. “Face to face. Direct commission. Deep pocket” 

“Sounds interesting.” I’d decided to add more to these conversations, whether Din liked it or not. 

Deep pocket means more reward. More reward means maybe new armor pieces from the Armorer. 

“Underworld?” Din asks, giving nothing of his emotions away. I can’t tell if that’s good or bad but turn to Karga as he replies. 

“All I know is, no chain code.” He explains, reaching for something in a pocket. 

It’s a chit. This client must be really desperate to keep this on the down low. “Do you want the chit or not?” Karga asks, knowing full well we’d take it. 

Din swipes it and we stand, putting our weapons back on our shoulders. “A pleasure, Karga.” I call back as we leave. “What do you think?” I ask, unable to contain my curiosity when we’re outside the cantina. 

“I don’t know. No chain code is suspicious, so is the face-to-face meeting, but we need a high-paying job. This Calamari Flan is not enough to make much difference to the Tribe.” 

“I know.” I reply softly as we walk. No one ever really paid attention to us after we got established as bounty hunters. At first, there were whispers, unashamed pointing and staring, even a few drunk or high hunters who wanted to ‘test what they heard about Mandalorians’. Nothing we couldn’t handle, but after about two years...they stopped. 

Soon, we reach the coordinates on the chit and Din knocks on the door. 

A TT 8L gatekeeper droid pops out, asking what we wanted in Huttese. Din shows it the chit, and it retreats. A different droid greets us, turning around to lead us to our client. 

“I don’t like this.” I murmur softly to Din. That model droid was used by the Empire, but Imperial remnants wouldn’t be all the way on Nevarro, right?

“Just stay behind me.” Din replies just as softly. 

The longer we walk, the harder it is to keep going. Something in my gut is telling me I should run, and I’m really tempted to do so. 

But I manage to stay with Din, behind him like he said, and finally we arrive, the door opening to reveal- -

Oh, by the Creator himself! What the  _ hell _ are Imperials doing here?! 

I halt for a few precious seconds, but the Imperials make no move to attack. 

I glance subtly at Din, who walks forward after a few more seconds. 

“Greef Karga said you were coming.” A sophisticated male voice calls, and I see an older man in Imperial dress sitting at a table with two chairs opposite him. 

I feel increasingly uneasy as we walk toward him. 

Every inch of me wants to back out, either simply leaving the job for the piteous other non-Imperial bounties, or getting in the Razor Crest and blasting this building to pieces.

But as long as Din is hearing them out, I can’t do anything. I’m stuck. 

So I grit my teeth and force myself to keep walking and try to make it look normal.

“What else did he say?” If you know Din like I do, you’d know he’s as angry as I am at being faced with Imperials and having to consider working for them. 

But if we tried to back out now...we might not be able to make it out, much as I hate to admit it. We don’t know how many stormtroopers are in this building, and we don’t know the layout. We’d be at a disadvantage and they know that.

“He said you two made the best team in the parsec.” The client continues.  _ Did he know beforehand that we were Mandalorian? _ I wonder.  _ Is this a trap? _

Just as we were nearing the table, there’s a side door opening and Din and I instantly react, me automatically covering Din’s back with my pistol and pulse shotgun as he whips out his pulse sniper rifle and blaster. 

If this  _ is  _ a trap, we’ll go down fighting, like a Mandalorian should. 

“Freeze!” A stormtrooper orders, his blaster pointed at my chest. 

I glance over and see that the newcomer is some sort of officer, by the look of it, cowering back as Din’s pulse rifle is trained on him. “No!” He shouts, almost a squeak. 

“Drop your weapons!” Another stormtrooper barks. Obviously, we don’t. 

“No nonono, sorry. Pardon, uh...sorry.” The new officer stammers, standing mostly upright now, holding what looks like a tracking fob. “I didn’t mean to alarm.”

“Too late for that.” I growl low. 

The client holds up his hands placatingly, standing from the table. “This is Doctor Pershing. Please excuse his lack of decorum. His enthusiasm outweighs his discretion.” He explains. “Please lower your blaster.” 

I grit my teeth. No way in  _ hell _ !

“Have them lower theirs first.” Din retorts. 

“We could drop them easily.” I add. “Make the smart move.” 

“We have you four to two.” A stormtrooper idiotically points out.

“We’re Mandalorians. All we have to do is shoot twice and you’re all dead.” I growl back.

“I like our odds.” Din concludes, not giving an inch. 

The client walks over close to Din. “He also said you were expensive.  _ Very _ expensive.” He indicates the chairs at the table. “Please sit.” 

At a motion from the client, the stormtroopers slowly lower their weapons. I don’t lower mine til I see Din lowering his. 

Reluctantly, we put our weapons away and walk over to sit at the table, my taserstaff in my hand and Din’s pulse rifle across his lap. There’s something almost comforting about the way it lightly presses against my leg. 

The client reaches over and unwraps something I just notice on the table. 

I draw in a breath as quietly as I can when I see what it is. 

“Beskar?” Din asks, as if unable to believe what he’s seeing. 

“Go ahead. It’s real.” The client assures us. Din picks it up to examine it, then hands it to me after a few moments. 

Yeah...it’s real Beskar alright. Probably leftover from the Great Purge, when these animals decided to wipe Mandalorians from the galaxy. 

“Normally, I would not offer this type of reward, much less so much of it,” The client continues, “but this is only a down payment. There are two camtonos of Beskar waiting for you upon the delivery of the asset. One for each of you.” 

Yeah, Karga told them two Mandalorians were coming. 

My question is...how many Mandalorians had to die to collect  _ two camtonos _ of Beskar?!

“Alive.” Dr. Pershing adds, bringing me back to the present situation. 

“Yes, alive.” The client confirms, but sounds almost annoyed by the stipulation. Just what are we getting ourselves into here? “Although, I acknowledge, bounty hunting is a complicated profession.” The client continues, “That being the case, proof of termination is acceptable for a lower fee.” 

I gulp. These people don’t care, do they? Another reason I hate the Empire so much.

“That is  _ not _ what we agreed upon.” Dr. Pershing replies, almost panicked. _Interesting_...

“I’m simply being pragmatic.” The client assures him, leaning back in his chair as if we were discussing the weather, not whether or not a living thing should die or not.

So maybe Dr. Pershing cares a  _ little _ , but obviously not enough to let this poor target live in peace. 

“Let’s see the puck.” Din says. I truly hate the thought of working for these scumbags, but I can’t deny a rising curiosity about just what kind of being could make these people so desperate to get it that they would pay two whole camtonos of Beskar to ensure it’s delivery. 

Typically if a client is offering this high a bounty, they wanted the target killed quietly, but not this time. 

“I’m afraid discretion dictates a less traditional agreement.” The client replies, leaning forward. “We can only offer you a tracking fob.” 

I frown. This just keeps getting weirder. 

Dr. Pershing steps forward and hands Din the fob he’d been holding. After examining it briefly, Din stows it on his belt. “What’s the chain code?” Din asks.

“We can only provide the last four digits.” 

“Their age?” Din asks, and if I could see his face, I’m sure his brow is raised. “That’s all you can give us?”

The client nods. “Yes. They’re 50 years old.” 

And these Imperial leftovers are  _ really _ desperate to get this thing back. 

“We can also give you last reported positional data. Between that and the fob, hunters of your skills should make short work of this.” 

Eager to leave, Din stands. I stand too. The rare times we have to meet clients face to face, I sometimes bowed as we left. 

But I’d never bow to these scum.  _ Never _ . 

“The Beskar belongs back in the hands of Mandalorians.” The client calls, and I can’t tell if he’s being genuine or if he’s screwing with us. 

He does remember the Great Purge right? That wasn’t lost to history already, right? 

“It is good to restore the natural order of things after a period of such disarray, don’t you agree?” I grit my teeth to prevent me saying or doing something that would likely get us killed and make myself walk after Din without so much as a backward glance.

Dank farrik that man is- -he just- -he does realize his precious Empire  _ slaughtered _ Mandalorians and caused this ‘disarray’, doesn’t he?

I didn’t realize how tense I was until we were back in the fresh air outside. I relax and take a deep breath, rolling my shoulders.

“What the  _ hell _ was that?!” I snap. “He does realize Imperials are the ones that took the Beskar from us, right? He remembers the Great Purge doesn’t he?” 

“He was trying to get under our skin more than likely, testing us. Don’t let it get to you.” 

I let out a loud and long sigh. “What the hell did we get ourselves into?” I ask rhetorically as we head for the Crest. 

We were in this way too deep to get out now without serious repercussions. Something told me we’d regret taking this job...


	3. The Mandalorian, Part 2

**Ok, so I found a greeting in Mando’a. It’s ‘Su cuy’gar’, which translates to ‘you’re still alive’. I like that a lot for some reason, and there’s a shortened version of that greeting that’s equivalent to ‘hey’, which is ‘Su’cuy’. I’ll look up more Mando’a and try to incorporate it from now on cus I like Mando’a a lot!**

**I also discovered that Mandalorians who break their creed are labelled dar’Manda, which is basically an outsider. Not necessarily an outcast, but pretty dang close, and I can imagine the Children of the Watch treat dar’Manda as disowned, maybe even going as far as stripping them of their armor, but idk. That’s just my headcanon that I’m using in my story.**

**Anyway, I hope you guys like this chapter! Sorry it took a while!**

**God Bless and Good Day!**

**~The Lupine Sojourner**

Finally, we could go back home.

Sure, the Razor Crest was fine for when we left to get bounties, but the covert?

It’s home. Or, more accurately, the home we found after ours was destroyed. 

By scum like that client. 

_Dank farrik! We should_ **_never_ ** _have taken the chit._

But it’s too late now and we got a Beskar ingot out of it, with the promise of a _lot_ more if we succeed in bringing them their precious target. 

We walk toward the Armorer’s forge, and I feel the tension ease a bit at the sound of Foundlings running and giggling. 

“Su’cuy!” A few of them call.

I chuckle and return a Foundling’s hug on my leg. “Su’cuy, little one.” I reply. “We’ve got to go see the Armorer, ok? Run along with your friends.” 

The Foundling runs off. I always made it a point to mingle with the Foundlings whenever we were with the Tribe. They were the future and I wanted to know how the future was shaping up. 

No one else greets us as we walk back to the forge room. Sure enough, the Armorer is there. It’s always a treat to watch her work, hammering with precision and skill on whatever piece she was working on. 

No one knows her name, but she was essentially the leader of the Tribe. She was the one who taught us the Creed and oversaw us swearing it. She was something like an aunt after the loss of our parents. 

Soon, she puts the piece aside and walks over. 

There was a table between us for the purposes of this very interaction; presentation of our rewards and receiving of new armor, if we earn any. 

Din places the Calamari Flan on the table as well as the down payment of the ingot. 

The Armorer slowly picks up the ingot, examining it. “This was gathered in the Great Purge.” She notes. That much was obvious, but I refuse to disrespect her by voicing that. “It is good it is back with the Tribe.” 

“Yes.” Din replies. Thankfully, the Armorer can piece together where we got it, but doesn’t seem angry or upset about it. I wonder where she thinks we got it from. 

Hopefully, she won’t find out we took a job from Imperials. I decide against telling her we could get two cantomos for completing the job. That would raise questions Din and I don’t want to answer. 

“A pauldron would be in order. Unfortunately, there is only enough for one if I am to reserve excess for the Foundlings.” 

“Din can have the pauldron, as he usually runs point on our missions.” I probably didn’t need to speak up, but I wanted to be a part of this conversation. 

“So be it.” The Armorer stands and opens the cabinet with her tools inside. “Has your signet been revealed?” 

Din and I had not been through a trial worthy of a signet yet, unfortunately. Though we were essentially our own clan once we came of age, we had not officially become a clan, and that wouldn’t change until we got our signet.

“Not yet.” Din replies. 

“Soon.” The Armorer melts the ingot and begins preparation to make the pauldron for Din. 

“Are you sure you want me to have the pauldron?” Din asks. 

“I’m sure.” I murmur back. “Besides, once we complete our...job, we’ll have plenty of Beskar to make armor with.”

Din nods as we resume watching the Armorer at work. 

Once the molten Beskar was poured out, the Armorer addresses us again. “This is extremely generous. The excess will sponsor many Foundlings.” 

“That’s good.” Din replies politely. “We were once Foundlings.” 

I smile. Yes, and we’ve managed to become the best bounty hunters in the galaxy together, using the training the Tribe gave us. We’re lucky they took us in.

“I know.” She replies. I almost snicker. The way she said it was kinda funny. I guess we do bring it up every so often…or rather, Din does.

She beats at the metal with a hammer and sends sparks flying. It’s amazing to watch her work. Especially when you know she’s creating something unique for you. It may be a pauldron for Din, but still. 

Soon, she holds up the completed, cooled pauldron and approaches Din, who reaches up and takes off the Durasteel pauldron on his shoulder. Then, the Armorer attaches the new pauldron and man does it look _good_!

“Soon you shall have one too, child.” She says, looking at me. 

“Hopefully.” I reply, bowing my head a bit in respect. 

“...How did you come to possess that ingot?” She asks casually, but I know she expects the truth.

I feel myself tense up. How the hell was I supposed to tell her?! 

“A client.” Din interjects. “The ingot was a down payment.“

“...Very well.” There was no way she didn’t figure out where we got it after Din mentioned more was on the way. 

“Karga told us this job was to be kept discrete. We had no idea who the client was until we met with them.” I explain, unsure what made me do it, a cold sweat starting to break out at the thought of how the Armorer might react.

We have to work for our enemies and she seems- - “I accept your task for the simple reason you did not know our enemies sought to hire you.” She adds and I feel my heart skip a beat.

So...we weren’t about to become dar’Manda, disowned and stripped of our armor?

Oh thank the Maker! I may not fully agree with the Creed myself, but I know how much it means to Din and I can respect his dedication. Being disowned and becoming a dar’Manda would be his worst nightmare and I don’t want to see that become reality.

“...Thank you.” I murmur, swallowing the lump in my throat. 

If I get half a chance, I’m gonna blow those Imps to Hell!

=#=#=#=#=

The flight to our destination was fairly short. Just enough time to eat and take a catnap. 

“Sorry I just- -” I yawn when I wake up. “I couldn’t stay awake.” Normally, I kept him company on our flights.

“It’s alright. We’re here.” I yawn again, looking at the readout of the planet we were approaching. 

“Aravala-7?” I ask rhetorically. “Huh. Guess it’s a good place, seeing as it’s a nowhere, backwater planet.” 

“Get your helmet on. We’re making our final approach.” Din says.

I sigh and grab my helmet. “Alright alright.” I grumble. Technically, we didn’t have to put them on til we were leaving the Crest, but I didn’t want to make him mad, so I slip it on. 

We land in minutes and I grab my taserstaff, settling it on my shoulder. 

“Ready?” Din asks. 

“Mm-hmm.” I reply. The ramp lowers and we walk out. 

There’s no settlements as far as the eye can see, but I suppose there could be hermits hiding here, as well as our quarry. After all, a 50 year old being would be clever enough to use the terrain to his advantage when hiding. 

I look at the tracker as Din gets a feeling for the direction we need to go in. 

It seems we’re a ways off. The target is what looks to be a long walk away. 

I hold in my grumbling and grab my binocs, scanning the area in the direction we needed to go, finding some strange creatures milling about on a flat plain not far away. 

Huh...aren’t these...bluggs or something? I don’t remember their names, but- -

Din cries out in alarm and I hear a roar from, I’m assuming, one of the creatures. I look to see Din’s arm in the thing’s mouth, Din vainly trying to burn it with his flamethrower. 

“No!” I bark, trying to knock the thing off-balance by throwing myself against its side. Before I know it, it’s tail smacks me across the chest and I go flying back several feet, crunching hard into the muddy ground. 

It takes me a minute to get up, but I manage. When I do, I find Din on the ground, the creature knocked out or dead with Din’s arm still in its mouth. 

“Did you- -” Before I can finish my question, another creature comes roaring up. 

However, a dart suddenly sticks into its leg and it falls, electricity crackling around the dart. 

I look up to see an Ugnaught on a third creature. 

Din yanks his arm out with an effort, panting. “Thank you.” He murmurs. 

I nod in respect to the newcomer. 

“You are bounty hunters.” He says, not a question but a statement. 

“Yes.” Din confirms, still trying to catch his breath. 

“I will help you.” The Ugnaught decides. “I have spoken.” Without waiting for us to reply, he dismounts the creature and puts a rope skillfully around the things’ mouths so when they wake up he can lead them back to his home, or so I assume. 

Soon, the creatures wake up and seem subdued from the shock.

Din and I exchange a look as I help him up, then we jog to catch up to him. 

The Ugnaught merely remounts his creature, leading the other two creatures along behind him. He is fine with silence, and Din isn’t eager to break it, but I have a lot of questions. 

_Who is this Ugnaught? Why was he helping us? Does he know what we’re here for? If so, can he help us find it so we can retrieve it?_

Soon enough, we reach a quaint little home with a range for more of those creatures, with a corral I assume is meant for exercising the cratures or teaching someone how to ride them. 

All in all, this Ugnaught seems to live a homey life here. 

We walk with him, after he puts the creatures in a corral, to his house, sitting when he directed us to small stools. 

It was a tad uncomfortable, but I don’t mind. 

“Many have passed through.” The Ugnaught muses. “They seek the same one as you two.” 

“Did you help them?” Din asks. 

“Yes.” The alien is pouring drinks, I realize. Does he know we don’t take off our helmets? “They died.”

“Well then, I don’t know if we want your help.” Din replies, a hint of suspicion in his voice. 

“Let’s hear him out at least.” I murmur. No sense in pissing off our host. 

“You do want my help.” The Ugnaught continues as though I hadn’t spoken. “I can lead you and your companion to the encampment.” Our host finally walks over with the drinks. I don’t really have the heart to tell him we can’t drink it in front of him. 

“What’s your cut?” Din asks. 

“All.” The Ugnaught replies. 

I nearly jump out of my seat! _Is he crazy?! Half the bounty, just to guide us to the encampment?!_

_No way!_

“The entire bounty, just to guide?” Din asks cooly, and I make myself settle down a bit. “Seems steep.” _That’s an understatement._ I grumble inwardly. 

“No. The Blurgg you helped capture.” So. Blurgg is the name of that creature...interesting. 

“The Blurgg? You can keep them both.” Din replies, sounding almost disgusted. 

“No. You both will need one. To ride.” The Ugnaught replies. “I will ride one of my foals and keep yours when you are through with them. The way is impossible to pass without a Blurgg mount.” 

“We don’t know how to ride Blurgg.” Din points out. 

“I have spoken.” Our host snaps back.

=#=#=#=#=

Soon, Din and I are settled in a tiny side room. 

“This is turning out to be very interesting.” I muse, smirking. 

“The sooner we reach the encampment, the sooner we can leave.” Din grumbles. 

“I know. For now, I’m going to sleep. Goodnight.” I reply, yawning and removing my boots, weapons, and armor. 

I wanted a good night’s sleep. 

“What if the Ugnaught comes in?” Din asks sharply. He was always more paranoid than I was about our helmets. 

“It’s dark enough he won’t see your faces if he does come in here for whatever reason, but if you’re that concerned, lock the door.” I reply, laying down and closing my eyes. 

I hear Din lock the door as I shift a little and let my breathing slow down.

The following morning, the Ugnaught made no mention of us locking the door to our room, serving us some odd-looking soup-like stuff for breakfast. 

“I’m sorry to say we can’t eat with you. Our Creed mandates no one see our faces. We’ll be back soon.” I explain as Din and I head into our room again.

“Very well. I heard rumors Mandalorians have such strict codes and creeds. When you are finished with your meal, I will teach you to ride Blurgg. I have spoken.”

I nod. “Look forward to it.” I reply. When we reach our room, Din locks the door once more. “I hate doing that.” I grumble, shoving a spoonful of the stuff into my mouth hungrily. “I always feel so rude.” 

“Better to be considered rude than break the Creed.” Din replies, eating his bowl of food.

“I know, I know.” _Doesn’t mean I have to like it._ I complain inwardly. Din hated it when I grumble about the Creed so I mostly just internalize it.

I was coming to terms with it and keeping myself strict about it so I wouldn’t be separated from Din by becoming a dar’Manda, but, again, I don’t have to like it.

I finish my bowl quickly and so does Din. 

We leave our weapons where they are. No need to bring them out to learn how to ride Blurgg.

We meet the Ugnaught outside near the corral and there’s a Blurgg inside waiting for us. 

“Which of you will be first?” 

Din steps forward before I can, and I let him go, wanting to see how this plays out. 

The Ugnaught doesn’t say a word, probably wanting to get a feel for how Din would attempt to handle it on his own before he offers any advice. 

Din simply walks up to the Blurgg and attempts to mount it. Predictably, the Blurgg throws him off before Din can get fully on its back. 

I chuckle. Living underground meant the Tribe couldn’t train in riding animals, so Din and I were at a loss here. Doesn’t mean it isn’t funny to watch though. 

Din tries again, this time going slower so the Blurgg has time to get used to his presence before he jumps on its back. 

He manages to hold on to the bridle for a minute or two, but the Blurgg bucks and wriggles in protest and Din is eventually thrown off. 

This repeats itself a few more times, and each time I have to refrain from laughing at my brother. 

“Perhaps if you removed your helmet.” The Ugnaught calls. 

“We can’t do that.” I reply. _Doesn’t he remember what I said earlier?_

“Perhaps he remembers I tried to roast him earlier.” Din growls, getting up from yet another throw.

“This is a female. The males are all eaten during mating.” The Ugnaught explains. 

I shudder. These Blurgg just get weirder and weirder. 

Din tries simply mounting and trying to cling to the bridle again. Yet again, he is thrown off. 

If Din weren’t so frustrated, I’d have been laughing this entire time. I knew you shouldn’t just expect the animal to be calm about you jumping on its back, but apparently Din didn’t. 

Speaking of my brother, he storms over to us. 

“We don’t have time for this!” He barks. “Do you have a landspeeder or speeder bike that I could hire?”

“He said the way is impossible without a Blurgg.” I point out. 

“You are Mandalorian!” The Ugnaught says, almost sounding incredulous, glancing between Din and I. “Your ancestors rode the great Mythosaur!”

“Well, they’re not here now, so…” I quip under my breath. 

“Surely, you and your companion can learn to ride these young foals.” our host continues as if he didn’t hear me. 

“Hey. Try calming her down first. Let her sniff your hand and get used to your scent before you try to make her let you mount.” I advise. 

“That is good advice, Mandalorian.” The Ugnaught praises. 

Din lets out a sigh, but goes to try again, holding out his hand. 

The Blurgg is still restless though, but Din remains where he is, his hand outstretched. “Easy. Easy...now all right, settle down.” Finally, the Blurgg seems to start settling, Din inching nearer slowly. “That’s good. That’s good.” Din continues softly. Once he got it into his head he couldn’t just force his way to riding the Blurgg, he actually had a decent way of handling the animal. 

Din slowly puts his hand on the Blurgg’s forehead, stroking it gently. “Easy...ok. That’s good.” Finally, Din decides the Blurgg is settled enough for him to mount. 

Turns out he was mostly right. After a brief period of protesting, the Blurgg let Din stay on her back. 

Din gently kicks her leg and leads her around the corral a few times before he was satisfied the Blurgg would listen to him while going to the encampment. 

“I will get the Blurggs we will ride.” The Ugnaught says and walks to a different corral. I chuckle.

It’s always funny to me when people try to assume how Din and I know each other. We never talk about it for obvious reasons, so everyone is left to make their own assumptions.

Some assume we’re either married or in a romantic relationship of some sort, some assume we work together and that’s the extent of our relationship, and some just don’t care.

Din and I don’t exactly correct the wrong guesses. After all, if there’s a bit of mystery to us, people weren’t as likely to cross us.

The Ugnaught’s return brings me back to reality and I shake off my train of thought. “She seems a bit temperamental, but judging by your advice to your companion, you won’t have an issue with her.”

I nod and enter the corral. “Hey there, girl.” I murmur, extending my hand to her slowly. “I won’t hurt you, ok? Calm down...it’s alright…” The Blurgg protests and growls, but I remain where I am, letting the Blurgg come to me and sniff my hand a bit. “See? I’m not so bad, am I?” This feels slightly embarrassing, but at the same time Din is my brother and the Ugnaught was impressed by my earlier advice to Din, so I guess I don’t need to be too embarrassed about it. 

Soon enough, the Blurgg seems settled enough that I can mount her. I hop on her back and though she wriggles and tries a buck or two, I manage to stay on her back. “Good girl!” I praise, leading her around the corral like Din did.

The Ugnaught nods to me as I dismount and he leads the Blurgg to a barn-like structure not far away. He then lead the two he had captured yesterday there, as well.

“We will leave as soon as you are prepared.” The Ugnaught decides and goes into the barn, presumably to saddle the Blurgg.

“Doesn’t waste time, does he?” I quip with a chuckle.

“Let’s get our weapons.” Din replies. 

By the time we’ve retrieved our weapons and walk to the barn, the Ugnaught is nearly finished saddling the Blurgg. 

Then we mount up and leave. 

For the most part, we’re riding in silence. Normally, I’d talk to our host while riding, but he doesn’t seem to like idle chit-chat and we don’t necessarily need to fill the silence so I don’t say anything. 

Just when I was about to break the silence, regardless if anyone wanted it broken, we arrive at the encampment. 

Or as close as we could get while remaining undetected. I see a small gathering of buildings in the distance that the Ugnaught motions to. 

“That is where you’ll find your quarry.” 

I nod. “Thank you for your help.” I murmur genuinely. Din nods, too, then holds out a small credit pouch, presumably a cut of our funds. 

The Ugnaught, surprisingly, didn’t take it. 

“Please. You deserve this.” Din pleads, but the Ugnaught is firm. 

“Since these ones arrived, this territory has been an endless stream of mercenaries seeking reward and bringing destruction.” He explains. 

“Then why did you guide us?” Din asks before I can. 

“They do not belong here.” Our guide replies. . _..I gotta learn this guy’s name._ “Those who live here come seeking peace. There will be no peace until they are gone.” 

“Then why do you help?” I ask, unable to help it. 

“I have never met a Mandalorian, much less two at once. I’ve only read the stories. If they are true, you and your companion will make quick work of it.” 

I smirk. “We should be gone by sundown at the latest.” 

Our guide nods. “Then there will again be peace.” He begins turning his Blurgg around. “I have spoken.” 

I like this guy. Wonder if Din will want to drop in after we complete our task to say a proper goodbye. 

“I like him.” I muse after our guide is out of earshot. 

“Course you do. Stay focused.” Din replies, but not in a mean way. Just in a ‘let’s get going’ way. 

“Yeah yeah.” I pull out my binocs to get a closer look at the compound when all of a sudden, I see a bounty droid walking into the encampment, bold as brass. 

“Bounty droid.” Din grits out.

_Ergh! If he gets to the bounty first, we’ll lose the Beskar!_

We can barely make out the droid spouting something about surrendering the asset. Typical. 

I grit my teeth. "Dank ferrick!" I curse as the sounds of combat start. Seems the droid is doing decently well against the overwhelming odds at first, driving them to hide in the buildings, but the element of surprise Din and I had been counting on was lost. 

“Droids.” Din growls as he stands and I follow his lead. 

The droid repeats its command for the beings in this camp to produce the asset as Din and I run down toward the encampment, arriving quickly. 

Din, as always, was just ahead of me as we approach the droid. 

As expected, it fired, catching Din’s new pauldron and sending him into me, and we both end up on the ground, me winded from my brother’s weight as he tries to get up. 

As Din gets up he grabs the tracking fob, offering me a hand up with his free hand. “We’re in the guild!” He barks, pissed beyond belief. 

“You are a guild team?” The droid replies, sounding almost shocked. “I thought I was the only one on assignment.” 

I scoff. “That makes two of us.” I grumble, dusting myself off and catching my breath. Din subtly guides me toward a pillar the two of us barely fit behind. 

“So much for the element of surprise.” Din growls sourly, and I knew he was glancing around in case anyone got the bright idea of trying to ambush us. 

The droid turns to fully face us. “Sadly, I must ask for your fob.” It reports, sounding anything but sad. “I have already issued the Writ of Seizure. The bounty is mine.” 

“Use your own fob! You have one, don’t you?” I grumble, but the droid probably didn’t hear me. 

“And, unless I am mistaken, you are, as of yet, empty-handed.” Din points out. 

“This is true.” The droid concedes.

“Glad we cleared that up.” I grouch under my breath, scanning around for any potential enemies. 

Din pauses to think for a moment. “I have a suggestion.” 

“Proceed.” 

“We split the reward.” Din suggests and I turn to him. 

“Are you crazy?! You’re going to give this droid half our reward?!” I hiss. 

“Trust me.” Is all Din says back, and I suddenly know what his plan is; kill the droid once we get the bounty.

Even with three of us, this wouldn’t be easy. There are a _lot_ of thugs and mercenaries (or I assume they’re mercenaries. I don’t actually know) in this camp. 

“This is acceptable.” The droid confirms, and I sigh. 

I don’t like double-crossing people, even scummy droids like this one, but if we want those cantomos...we don’t have much choice. 

“Great.” Din snaps sarcastically, “Now let’s regroup, out of harm’s way, and form a plan.” 

The droid takes a few steps closer to us. “I will, of course, receive the reputation merits associated with the mission.” 

“Like hell.” I was already holding my blaster...but I’m not stupid enough to shoot the droid... _yet_. 

We needed his help to kill all these thugs. 

“Can we talk about this later?” Din growls, exasperated. 

The droid pauses for a second. “I require an answer if I am to proceed- -” Suddenly, blaster fire rings out, pinging against the droid’s shoulder...or was it his side? “Oh no. Alert, alert, alert.” 

Din shoots the newcomer and the alien falls from the roof, lifeless. Unfortunately, the guy was just a decoy to stall us a precious few seconds to let everyone else out. They start firing and it’s all Din and I can do to avoid being shot. We start returning fire, the droid kind of covering Din and I as we make our way across the area we were currently in, firing at the thugs we could see. 

Once comes out of a door, smacking me backward a pace or two and immediately going after Din, who makes short work of him as I resume firing. 

“Where are we even going? Which building is our target in?” I ask. If we knew that, we might be able to get into that building, where we’d stand a higher chance of holding the building long enough to get the target and figure out an exit strategy. 

Once we’re all three behind a cart, the droid and I firing at the thugs, Din pulls out his tracking fob. 

“He’s in there!” Din reports. 

I nod. “Good.” 

“Affirmative.” The droid adds. 

_Ugh! No matter how many of these guys we shoot, more just keep coming!_

Dina nd I manage to get behind another pillar as the droid continues its reckless march in the open, this torso, arms, and head all spinning around at will to continue thinning the crowd. 

But at this rate...I hate to say it, but we may have bitten off a bit more than we can chew. 

“Up top!” Din calls, probably to me, but before I can aim my pistol up, the droid has already shot the thug in question. 

The shooting stops for a moment and I see the chilling sight of all the thugs regrouping all around us. 

Dank ferrick! Unless someone thinks of something, we’re screwed! 

“It appears we are trapped.” The droid muses. “I will initiate self-destruct sequencing.” 

“What?!” I hiss. “Don’t!” 

“You’re what?!” Din adds as the droid’s chest opens and reveals a thermal detonator, which activates. 

“Manufacturer’s Protocol indicates I cannot be captured. I must self-destruct.” 

“Do not self destruct! You’ll take me and my associate with you!” Din growls. 

“And no one gets the reward!” I point out. Maybe pointing out the reward will prompt this thing to rethink the suicide strategy. 

“Cover me!” Din suddenly cries, distracting the droid from the detonator as he sprints for the door. I start firing and doing my best to cover Din, and a second later, the droid does so, as well. 

The droid and I do ok at holding the thugs back, but there’s so many, a few bullets collide with the wall directly around Din, the droid, and I, but I keep firing. The more thugs I shoot, the less likely it is that I will die. 

Suddenly, a stray shot hits the controls Din is in front of and he scrambles back against the nearest pillar. 

“There’s too many!” Din growls, head turning to search for a way out of this mess. 

“We’ve been in scapes like this before.” I point out, gritting my teeth as we briefly peek out to fire a few shots, managing to kill a few more thugs. 

“They’ve got us pinned!” 

“Thanks for the update!” I grumble, trying to see if I could shoot any of these guys without leaving cover. 

Unfortunately, it didn’t look like I could. 

Then, the shooting thins out and I hear laughter. “That’s never a good sign…” I sigh heavily as we take a second to collect ourselves. 

“I will initiate self-destruct.” The droid informs us. 

“You are not killing me and my brother!” I growl back. 

“Do not self-destruct!” Din adds, “We’re shooting out way out!” 

“Din, wait a seco- -Din!” I bark as Din recklessly breaks cover, only to see… “Dank ferrick…” I whimper. 

They had a turret. A kriffing turret! We’re meeting the Maker for sure! 

“...Ok.” Din manages to say through his shock as he backs up behind the pillar again. “New plan!” He all but squeaks. 

“I will begin the self-destruct countdown.” That damn droid says. 

“No! Stop it!” Din replies, “Distract the turret, IG! She and I will handle the rest!” 

“Acceptable.” The droid replies. 

“Just go!” I snap and nod at Din, taking a few deep breaths while the droid got itself shot a few times. 

Then, when the turret was turned enough, I hooked the turret with my fibrocord launcher and gave it a hard tug as Din raced forward, shot the gunner, and took control of the turret, using it against the remaining thugs. 

Once the dust settled, there were no living things other than us. And the droid, but it technically wasn’t alive. 

I holster my blaster, panting a little. 

“Good idea, Mando.” I praise. 

“Yes. Well done, the both of you.” The droid adds, “I will disengage the self-destruct initiative.” Next second, the detonator timer stops. 

Din walks over and gives the droid a hand up. Which surprised me a little. “You know, you’re not so bad...for a droid.” He concedes. 

“Agreed.” 

“That blaster hit looks nasty.” I muse, looking the droid over. “You ok?” 

“Running a quick diagnostic...It has missed my central wiring harness.” The droid reports. 

“Is that good?” Din asks. 

“No. He’ll power down soon.” I tease, chuckling. 

“She is incorrect. I still function.” IG replies. 

“You do realize I was being sarcastic, right?” 

“...” The droid doesn’t reply. 

Din turns to the door our target was behind. “Well, now we just need to get the door open.” He points out. 

“I doubt the controls can be hacked after that blaster hit.” I grumble, sighing. 

Din and IG then look at the turret. 

“Hell yeah!” I cheer, running over. “Dibs on blasting the door!” It was more fun than it should have been, cutting a hole in the door with a freaking turret! 

All too soon, I stop and grin as I walk over. Din kicks the door down, resulting in a loud crash. 

Then, one last thug comes out of hiding, hoping to catch us off-guard. Too bad for him, Din has an incredibly quick draw, shooting the guy before he could fire a shot.

“Anyone else?” Din snarks, walking further into the room as he holsters his pistol. 

“The tracking fob is still active. My sensors indicate that there is a life form present.” IG informs us. 

“Come on out! Make it easy on yourself!” I call, hoping this target would get the hint we wouldn’t stop til we found him. 

Din moves toward a pile of junk in a corner, the fob’s beeping growing louder and quicker….and there was still no sign of any life form. 

Were they under the pile, hiding? 

Then I notice a pram on top of the pile. As Din and I near it...the beeping indicates we’ve found our quarry. 

What the hell is going on?! 

“Is the target under the pile or in the pram?” I muse out loud, thoroughly confused. IG doesn’t offer any help and Din just reaches to open the pram. 

What’s inside is startling. It’s...it’s a kid! 

The fob never lies, and the chain code always gives an accurate age, but...but there’s also no denying that this thing is a child, a _baby_ , for Kriff’s sake!

“Wait...They said 50 years old.” Din points out. 

“Yeah...but that thing is just a baby.” My heart clenches painfully. He was all alone in this awful encampment...who knows how well these thugs treated him? 

Poor thing...and we had to deliver him to Imps. 

I _hate_ this! How could this thing be older than us but still a baby?

“Species age differently.” IG points out. “Perhaps it could live many centuries.” 

The creature takes notice that his pram was open, moving the blanket aside to look at us. It was so freaking cute! His eyes are large and beady, with large green ears, 

What if we doom this creature to centuries of Imperial torture?! 

Shit! There’s no way we can turn it over! I- -I can’t! 

But...I know if we don’t...we’ll be killed by the Guild for breaking code. Maybe if we go directly to the Covert, they’d understand...they’d help us. 

“Sadly...we’ll never know.” 

_I’m sorry...what!?_ IG raises his blaster. 

“No!” Din and I snap at once, Din’s hand stalling the blaster. “We’ll bring it in alive.” My hand strays toward my pistol handle. If that thing tries to kill that kid...I’ll kill it. 

“The commission was quite specific; the asset was to be terminated.” 

“Hold on...who hired you?” I ask, pistol inching out of my holster, but Din is quicker, firing a shot into IG’s head, letting it fall to the ground. “We could have- -” 

“It wasn’t gonna talk.” Din interjects, then walks closer to the pram as I move it off the junk pile. 

“This thing is so small…” I whimper, letting my emotions out just a little not that we were alone. Din reaches a hand out to the little guy, who, surprisingly, reaches back, their hands almost connecting. “By the Maker…” I murmur softly, unwilling to break this spell. 

Din rarely ever showed any attachment to anything, even me when out on missions (to protect me. If everyone knew we were siblings, they’d use either of us to get to the other. It was easier to avoid that mess by just not explaining how we knew each other). 

So...why was he suddenly getting attached- -...this baby is all alone. I get it now. 

This kid...is us. We were alone, too. 

Maybe...maybe Din was realizing what I realized as soon as I saw this kid: 

There’s no way in _hell_ we’d give this little baby to the Imperials! 

But...how do we avoid getting killed either by Imperials or the Guild for our breach of code?

_What do we do now?!_


End file.
